xavdid's recent activity
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Comment on Steam Hardware: Launch timing and other FAQs in ~games
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Comment on Seeking guidance on a week long LA to Bay Area trip in ~travel
xavdid LinkThis looks like a very fun trip! Other commenters have already hit key pieces (bring jackets, watch traffic, etc), but I wanted to caution you about packing too much into your days. CA has a ton...This looks like a very fun trip! Other commenters have already hit key pieces (bring jackets, watch traffic, etc), but I wanted to caution you about packing too much into your days.
CA has a ton to offer and it's easy to miss the best things because you're in a rush to get elsewhere. In particular, your original day 5 looks really packed. In order to spend any time in SF, you're looking at 4+ hours of zipping up the coast (or taking a faster, inland route) before you grab a quick bite in the city, walk around a bit, and then head down to Pleasanton.
Because you're driving up the coast anyway, I'd maybe double down on that part of the trip and skip SF entirely. I know it's a little sacrilegious to say (it's an amazing city!) but there's only so much you can see of it on your schedule and the coast is so beautiful that you'll probably get more mileage out of stopping to smell the roses along the way than trying to see everything.
Highway 1 is littered with little beaches that you can pull into and park before continuing on. There's also lots of farm stands (depending on the time of year you're there) and the fresh veggies make for great driving snacks.
If you do go to the city, pick a neighborhood and just take it in. You can hit the tourist-y things (they're classics for a reason!) or you can just wander. North Beach is a favorite, as is Chinatown. You really can't go wrong though.
Oh, and one more tip - don't leave anything visible in the vehicle! Everything you bring is either in a backpack that comes with you whenever you leave your car or in the enclosed trunk that you only open when you leave a place (not when you arrive, since someone could see what's in there right before the car is unmonitored). Triply so if you go to SF proper. Smash & grabs are still a pretty serious issue.
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Comment on Day 3: Lobby in ~comp.advent_of_code
xavdid Link[LANGUAGE: Python] Step-by-step explanation | full code I went the dynamic programming route- an optimal number length N is the highest number with at least N-1 digits after it, followed by the...[LANGUAGE: Python]
Step-by-step explanation | full code
I went the dynamic programming route- an optimal number length
Nis the highest number with at leastN-1digits after it, followed by the largestN-1length number. My part 1 code solved it "by hand" by finding themax(digits[:-1])and then adding that tomax(digits[digits.index(that_num)+1:])For part 2, I made that so it worked with any length and worked recursively, which worked nicely:
return [best_lead] + _recursive_joltage(digits[lead_index + 1 :], length - 1).Felt extra clean today!
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Comment on Day 2: Gift Shop in ~comp.advent_of_code
xavdid Link[LANGUAGE: Python] Step-by-step explanation | full code I clocked the regex solution for part 2 pretty fast, but hoped there was a more interesting approach. Luckily, there was! For a substring s,...[LANGUAGE: Python]
Step-by-step explanation | full code
I clocked the regex solution for part 2 pretty fast, but hoped there was a more interesting approach. Luckily, there was! For a substring
s, an ID is invalid ifid.count(s) * len(s) == len(id). Once I accounted for single-digit numbers, I had my answer.I was surprised at the lack of performance penalty when compared to regex, too! More lines of code (and admittedly slower) but not actually a huge gap.
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Comment on How well can you predict the state of the world in 2041? in ~life
xavdid Link ParentThat's an interesting question! On the one hand, it's sort of fun to sit on it like a time capsule and do a big reveal when it's due. On the other hand, the times where this survey is most...That's an interesting question! On the one hand, it's sort of fun to sit on it like a time capsule and do a big reveal when it's due. On the other hand, the times where this survey is most interesting is today and in 16 years, so it's sort of a shame to not show anything for so long. I'll think about it!
(Or, if I misunderstood your question, I'm definitely planning on sharing everything in 16 years)
Are there specific questions you're most interested in seeing preliminary stats on now?
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Comment on How well can you predict the state of the world in 2041? in ~life
xavdid Link ParentI think gmail being gone would be a bold prediction in and of itself. But using a domain you own seems like better and better practice for resiliency anyway. But yes, thank you and you're welcome!I think gmail being gone would be a bold prediction in and of itself. But using a domain you own seems like better and better practice for resiliency anyway.
But yes, thank you and you're welcome!
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Comment on How well can you predict the state of the world in 2041? in ~life
xavdid Link ParentIt's me indeed! And will do, already looking forward to it. 😁It's me indeed! And will do, already looking forward to it. 😁
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Comment on How well can you predict the state of the world in 2041? in ~life
xavdid (edited )Link ParentYeah, that's fair. As mentioned in the description, you can skip anything you don't feel like you have the context for. But given we and most of our friends / family live in the US, we were asking...Yeah, that's fair. As mentioned in the description, you can skip anything you don't feel like you have the context for. But given we and most of our friends / family live in the US, we were asking the questions that have been top of mind for us.
Either way, thanks for checking it out!
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Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music
xavdid LinkThere's a new Goldfinger album out! https://music.apple.com/us/album/nine-lives/1859083111. It's great so far! Hard to believe they've been making music so long. Their best-of album came out in 2005.There's a new Goldfinger album out! https://music.apple.com/us/album/nine-lives/1859083111. It's great so far!
Hard to believe they've been making music so long. Their best-of album came out in 2005.
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Comment on How well can you predict the state of the world in 2041? in ~life
xavdid Link ParentI hear that! there are a bunch of question we left off because, while interesting, we thought they'd be too sad. Things like "are there still polar bears" 😔I hear that! there are a bunch of question we left off because, while interesting, we thought they'd be too sad. Things like "are there still polar bears" 😔
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Comment on How well can you predict the state of the world in 2041? in ~life
xavdid LinkWe recently welcomed a new baby and have been discussing whether she'll ever learn to drive. I love bets with long time horizons, so we put together a survey so friends and family could pick a...We recently welcomed a new baby and have been discussing whether she'll ever learn to drive. I love bets with long time horizons, so we put together a survey so friends and family could pick a side. We kept thinking of fun questions to ask, so it grew into the survey I've linked above, which we're opening to the public.
It's short, fun, and totally informal. Thanks for looking!
There's a little more context about the project on my blog: https://xavd.id/blog/post/predicting-the-future/
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How well can you predict the state of the world in 2041?
23 votes -
Comment on My favorite media of 2025 in ~games
xavdid Link ParentThank you! And enjoy those, it sounds like you'll like them. Do you have any favorite games I might not have played?Thank you! And enjoy those, it sounds like you'll like them.
Do you have any favorite games I might not have played?
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Comment on Day 1: Secret Entrance in ~comp.advent_of_code
xavdid Link ParentThank you! We're excited, but tired. We'll see where I get with AoC 😅Thank you! We're excited, but tired. We'll see where I get with AoC 😅
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Comment on My favorite media of 2025 in ~games
xavdid LinkAs I do every January for the past 10 (!!) years, I've collected my absolute favorite media that was new to me in the past year. That qualification makes my lists unique, since I've rarely played...As I do every January for the past 10 (!!) years, I've collected my absolute favorite media that was new to me in the past year. That qualification makes my lists unique, since I've rarely played any of the hottest GotY contenders (I'm slow, but I usually get there). It's always a labor of love putting this together and I'm glad to have been able to do it for so long. This is the thing I put the most energy into all year, so I do appreciate you checking it out. 🙂
Also, I'm curious:
- What were your favorites from 2025?
- What made them stand out to you?
- Based on my interests, do you have any recommendations I might not have played?
(Note that while I posted this in ~games since that's the bulk of the article, there's favorite ~movies, ~tv, and ~books as well! Truly something for everyone).
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My favorite media of 2025
24 votes -
Comment on Day 1: Secret Entrance in ~comp.advent_of_code
xavdid Link[LANGUAGE: Python] Step-by-step explanation | full code Better late than never, right? I swear, I've got a good reason. Not sure how far I'll get this year since I'm apparently still pretty...[LANGUAGE: Python]
Step-by-step explanation | full code
Better late than never, right? I swear, I've got a good reason. Not sure how far I'll get this year since I'm apparently still pretty gassed, but we'll see how it goes.
I was surprised that day 1 wasn't quite as trivial as it usually is. Or maybe I'm just really wiped. Anyway, I tried to be clever with part 2, doing some floor math to figure out how many times I might have looped past zero. I couldn't get that working, so I decided to do the dumb simple thing instead. Make the entire range represented by a rotation, turn it into a list of numbers, and count the zeroes.
Hey, if it's stupid and it works, maybe it's not stupid?
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
xavdid LinkI played most of the Thinky Award nominees! They're all great in their own way, even if they're not necessarily for me. I only played a few hours of each, but I'll be coming back to most of them....I played most of the Thinky Award nominees! They're all great in their own way, even if they're not necessarily for me. I only played a few hours of each, but I'll be coming back to most of them.
The standouts were:
- Chroma Zero, heavily inspired by Outer Wilds
- Gentoo Rescue, a challenging yet acecssible penguin puzzle game
- The Roottrees are Dead, a superb logic and deduction game about family trees.
But really, they were all nominated for a reason, so you can't go wrong!
https://david.reviews/articles/thinky-awards-2025-impressions/
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
xavdid Link ParentFYI- Type Help is being remade for a full Steam release sometime in 2026. https://store.steampowered.com/app/3641000/The_Incident_at_Galley_House/ I have no idea what's being changed wrt to story...FYI- Type Help is being remade for a full Steam release sometime in 2026. https://store.steampowered.com/app/3641000/The_Incident_at_Galley_House/
I have no idea what's being changed wrt to story (if anything), but I know it'll be fully voice acted. Might be worth another playthrough eventually if you liked the bones of the game!
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Comment on Thinky Awards 2025 nominees in ~games
xavdid Link ParentYeah, definitely! It just gets points for a nice implementation. I'll have an impressions article on my site sometime soon(ish) of all of them that I've played. Cause like I said, it's a really...Yeah, definitely! It just gets points for a nice implementation.
I'll have an impressions article on my site sometime soon(ish) of all of them that I've played. Cause like I said, it's a really strong slate.
To be fair, they said it's frequently asked questions, not frequently answered ones.
Seriously though, I don't envy valve's position here. Must be tough to have so much out of their control!